Series 3 Waypoint

Alphabeast

An English Alphabet of Endangered Animals.

Congratulations! You've been selected to participate in Type Hike's third series: ALPHABEAST. Welcome to the Waypoint.

Type Hike was created at the intersection of two loves: typography and nature. An adventurous spirit wanders through mountain valleys and explores serifs in search of something unseen. One of the greatest privileges of an adventurer is to share the outdoors with the animals who call it home. This series pays tribute to the great beasts of our nation who are painfully close to extinction. We call them by name, merging the strengths of their species with the power of typography. Our goal is to help protect these beasts because words alone will not be enough.

The following are 26 endangered beasts located across North America and the Hawaiian Islands:

Project details

The purpose of this project is to use our collective talent to celebrate nature through typography. Each designer will create a type-based design that expresses their unique viewpoint and love for the outdoors.

ELEMENTS / Every design should include the beast name, corresponding letter of the alphabet, and some indication of the animal. We encourage you to think graphically about your animal depiction - you have been invited to this series because we trust your style and judgement to create a unique and interesting composition. The elements can be arranged in any hierarchy.

We don't want the series to end up looking like this:

COLOR / Each design can include up to three colors chosen from the palette below. Limiting the color choices will create visual continuity across all designs and simplify print production.

SIZE / Designs will be built at 24" x 36" at 300 ppi (or 7200px x 10800 px in robot numbers) in only portrait orientation. We will be producing packs of the full alphabet designed to be hung as a set so all designs need to have the same orientation.

USE / The full set of designs will be exhibited on typehike.com and shared on Instagram. Postcards and posters will be printed for each design and sold in the online shop and by select retailers. Apparel for a selection of the designs will also be printed through a partnership with Cotton Bureau. Exhibitions are being planned for various galleries, museums, and universities across the country.

CONSIDERATIONS / While we want to keep the design guidelines as open as possible to allow creativity to thrive, we learned some lessons from the first series that are worth sharing:

Designs that are "self-contained" and do not rely heavily on the edges of the canvas are easier to print on shirts.

Thin frames around the edge of the design are difficult to reproduce accurately across the three printed sizes. If seeing a print of your design with slightly uneven border thicknesses is going to churn your stomach, avoid dancing on the edge.

Please do not use any NPS owned logos, images, or shapes in your designs - we are not licensed to reproduce any trademarked material.

We respect that you are not be participating in this project for financial gain, so credits will always be shown with the designs. We encourage you to seize this opportunity to showcase you talent. Type Hike's exposure is constantly growing and your work will be seen and enjoyed by many.

Timeline

6/2 - Designer/Beast Selection AnnouncedThe group of designers participating in this series will be announced along with their selected beasts.

7/10 - Final Designs CompletedAll designs must be completed by July 21st in order to prepare prints for the launch. When your design is complete, please email a jpeg or pdf and the original file to letsgo@typehike.com.

9/1 - Series LaunchThe designs will be published and will be available for sale until 12/11/18.

Thank you SO MUCH for lending your talent to this important cause. You are special and wonderful.